ACTION ALERT: The Harper government should stop blacklisting peacemakers

October 9, 2007

As you know, on October 5 we issued our ACTION ALERT: Denied entry to U.S. peace activists demands revisiting of SPP border arrangements. If you have not already responded to this, please do so today.

This action alert came after Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war women’s group CODEPINK, and retired Army colonel Ann Wright were denied entry into Canada on October 3. They were told that they could not cross the border into Canada because their names appeared on an FBI database that Canadian border agents use to screen visitors. A key initiative of the Security and Prosperity Partnership's 'security agenda' is to, "Work to ensure compatibility of systems to share data on high-risk travellers and… to provide for risk management decisions on travellers destined to or transiting North America."

Now, CODEPINK is urging U.S. and Canadian supporters to sign a petition that calls, "on the Canadian government to reverse its policy and extend a warm welcome to U.S. peacemakers and other social activists who use the time-honored tradition of engaging in civil disobedience as a way to change unjust policies."

Please also note that on October 6, the editorial board of the Toronto Star, the country's largest circulation newspaper stated, "Canada should be on the lookout for brazen criminals, not brazen peace activists. Border officials should use common sense in dealing with peaceful political activists, and let them in."

The Globe and Mail then reported on October 9 that, "More than a dozen members of Congress, prominent religious leaders and thousands of non-violent U.S. protesters could be barred from Canada if border agents consistently applied the same criteria they used to turn back two anti-war protesters last week. California Democrat Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, chairman of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee and co-chair of the congressional human-rights caucus, is among the most prominent who might be barred."

You can read the full article on the Globe and Mail website.

Click here to sign this petition signed by Maude Barlow, Willie Nelson, Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Ben Cohen, Walden Bello, John Cavanagh and Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org among many other notables listed on the CODEPINK website.

Brent Patterson, Director of Organizing and Campaigns, The Council of Canadians